SOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

public, coeducational institution of higher education, situated in San Marcos, Texas, U.S. It is part of the Texas State University system. It offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees through the Graduate School and schools of Applied Arts and Technology, Business, Education, Fine Arts and Communication, Health Professions, Liberal Arts, and Science. The College of General Studies manages the core curriculum for beginning students. University units conduct research in fields such as archaeology and physical anthropology, traffic safety, aquifers, polymers, and the American Southwest. Southwest Texas State enrolls approximately 21,000 students. The university was established by the Texas legislature in 1899 as Southwest Texas State Normal School; instruction began in 1903. The Old Main, built in 1903, is a distinctive Victorian architectural feature of the campus. The first graduate-level course was offered in 1936, and the first graduate degree was granted the following year. The school was renamed in 1923 and 1959, before it received its present name in 1969. The campus expanded in 1979 with the purchase of San Marcos Baptist Academy. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson was an alumnus of the university.